Friday 11 February 2011

Revisiting favourites - le Moriond

I have had a bit of a hiatus in my painting endeavours recently.  In the winter I don't get to paint as much a) because it is too cold to paint outdoors,  and  b) because I like to go skiing.  This time it has been due to my poor husband who has a broken arm and shoulder and is recuperating from an operation to fix them both.  The weather has been glorious for the past 5 weeks, although not so good for the snow, so I managed to get back to my favourite location, looking up the river at Pont du Creuset towards the Moriond.  The snow has melted enough to see the river trickling down - rather than gushing down in the summer version of this painting (earlier in this blog).

I have gone back to my favourite acrylics.  I underpainted the canvas first with a strong red wash, which shows through as tiny specks of colour, and gives a lively feeling. Then I blocked in with more opaque colours.
I did toy with doing the final layer in thicker oils, but chose not to as I wanted to push the colours and I wasn't sure how it would go.  Maybe next time I will gird my loins and go with the oil paint.

I am really pleased with the way it has turned out.  It is still at the stage of hanging on the lounge wall where I can see anything I want to alter - but I think that's it now.

I have plenty more images of this lovely place to work from in the warmth of my attic, maybe a bit more abstract next time.

Le Moriond - snow
30 x 40 x 5 cms stretched canvas
£235 ready to hang